Travelling from the UK to the USA with a criminal record

Never admit anything to public officials, let me give you a simple example; if you are asked by a customs officer or police officer "have you ever taken drugs" and you answer "yes, years ago when I was younger" or "yes, but not for years" you have just given them reasonable suspicion to detain and search you, as you have made an admission of law breaking, albeit in the past. It is considered reasonable to suspect that someone who has admitted breaking the law once, that they may do it again, if you answer no, then it is not considered reasonable to assume that someone who has never broken the law will start on that day.

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You may also have broken the law, cos the ESTA form asks if you are a drug abuser. Answering NO on the ESTA and then admitting to having abused drugs in the past means you have lied on your ESTA...

Never admit anything to public officials, let me give you a simple example; if you are asked by a customs officer or police officer "have you ever taken drugs" and you answer "yes, years ago when I was younger" or "yes, but not for years" you have just given them reasonable suspicion to detain and search you, as you have made an admission of law breaking, albeit in the past. It is considered reasonable to suspect that someone who has admitted breaking the law once, that they may do it again, if you answer no, then it is not considered reasonable to assume that someone who has never broken the law will start on that day.

oddly enough if you want to join the coppery / secret service or customs / immigration, they expect you to have *expreimented* with drugs and confess at the interview. Indeed, they are suspicious of you say you have not touched it ever

people will give you silly answers here. Mostly because your question has been answered 8 times per page on this thread.

But in short - he will be fine if he lies and just says he has never been in trouble... as long as he hasn't ever told them that he has been in trouble.
Why is he having a visa meeting? Has he already told them he has been in trouble? If so, have you ever considered going on holiday to Canada?

Because he has common assault on his criminal record? We were told that he wouldn't be eligible for an etsa, if we went down that route it's just my luck we would be caught out.
We've got all his ACRO forms etc from the police to detail his record and I guess we just wait until 6th December to find out

Yes, because he doesn't pass the test to get a visa. You should have read this thread before, not after, you contacted the embassy. I hope you haven't paid for anything

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Course we've paid, we've paid for the visa appointment. What do you mean he doesn't pass the test for a visa? What's the point of having the ETSA and then a visa option if he doesn't fit the ETSA if they say no either way

Course we've paid, we've paid for the visa appointment. What do you mean he doesn't pass the test for a visa? What's the point of having the ETSA and then a visa option if he doesn't fit the ETSA if they say no either way

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I'm sure you can google yourself and I feel disinclined to help as you're rude.

I'm sure you can google yourself and I feel disinclined to help as you're rude.

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Not being rude trashpony. Just don't understand their system if they allow an ETSA if you lie to them, which I understand people do and get away with it but if you're honest and try to go for the visa(b12 or whatever it is) they still say no

Course we've paid, we've paid for the visa appointment. What do you mean he doesn't pass the test for a visa? What's the point of having the ETSA and then a visa option if he doesn't fit the ETSA if they say no either way

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If you've paid for the appointment you have nothing to lose by going I suppose (apart from a wasted trip) but the bottom line is you've been honest and that's seemingly not the best policy when it comes to travelling to The States. They will likely say "No, you have a criminal record/you've been arrested". If he'd just filled in the ESTA and ticked "No" to these questions they would almost certainly have never found out.

Not being rude trashpony. Just don't understand their system if they allow an ETSA if you lie to them, which I understand people do and get away with it but if you're honest and try to go for the visa(b12 or whatever it is) they still say no

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Because there are sometimes reasons for not being eligible to use the ESTA program which might not bar you altogether from entry, for which you would have to go to the meeting and get the visa. But I don't think a criminal record is going to be on that list.

Because there are sometimes reasons for not being eligible to use the ESTA program which might not bar you altogether from entry, for which you would have to go to the meeting and get the visa. But I don't think a criminal record is going to be on that list.

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Thank you for clarifying. I'll post the outcome after the meeting, I assume he finds out straight away

Thank you for clarifying. I'll post the outcome after the meeting, I assume he finds out straight away

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Good luck. I have no idea how quickly he'll know the outcome but I did find this which might hold some hope:ESTA application denied

Another common error is to answer "Yes" to the question about having been arrested or convicted for a crime causing serious harm to property, persons, or government entities) assuming that driving under the influence of alcohol or simple assault is considered a type of that crime (it isn't.) You can look here for a more detailed description of serious crimes.

Not being rude trashpony. Just don't understand their system if they allow an ETSA if you lie to them, which I understand people do and get away with it but if you're honest and try to go for the visa(b12 or whatever it is) they still say no

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Because you're not supposed to lie on the ESTA obviously

keybored has shamed me into being a nicer person and sharing the minute of googling that I did with you:

Crimes that Shouldn’t Prevent Entry to the U.S.
Not all crimes will result in being denied entry to the U.S.

Crimes that are not considered moral turpitude include where the individual has committed only one crime of moral turpitude, and:

the crime was committed when the individual was under 18 years of age and the crime was committed more than five years ago

the crime did not exceed one year of imprisonment

if the individual was convicted of the crime, but the individual was not sentenced to imprisonment for a term greater than six months

Offences like fail to appear, causing a disturbance, common assault and impaired driving are not ordinarily considered in determining your admissibility to the country. In addition, multiple convictions involving crimes which are NOT classified as crimes involving moral turpitude ordinarily do not block your entry.

The U.S. does not deny entry to persons with a conviction for “Driving Under the Influence” (DUI / DWI) despite how seriously Canada takes this type of offense. However, if there are multiple convictions for this and or other misdemeanors, you could be denied entry.

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so your boyfriend should be alright. Be very contrite and very polite.

Because he has common assault on his criminal record? We were told that he wouldn't be eligible for an etsa, if we went down that route it's just my luck we would be caught out.
We've got all his ACRO forms etc from the police to detail his record and I guess we just wait until 6th December to find out

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Common assault is NOT a crime of moral turpitude so he was eligible for esta and whoever told you contrary was wrong.